Mount Pleasant tenants fight to keep their homes, but the Broadway Plan beat goes on

Good morning, 

Nate with you today. I’ll be brief because we’ve got a big issue for you today, with two different types of stories about housing and development. 

Our first story in particular is part of our ongoing commitment to highlight neighbourhood issues, provide a platform to hear from people on the front lines of a rapidly changing city, and dive deeper into the details of government policy to help readers understand how and why decisions are made. 

Let’s get to it. 

— Nate Lewis, Vancity Lookout

Editor’s note: The story we shared on Monday about the food neighbourhood in the city included the wrong link. You can read that story here. 

PS - If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider forwarding it to your friends. New to the Lookout? Sign-up for free. 

WEATHER

Wednesday: 17 🌡️ 10 | 🌧️

Thursday: 17 🌡️ 8 | ⛅️ 

Friday: 16 🌡️ 10 | 🌧️

THE LOOKOUT RECOMMENDS

More Filipino food: Seriously, there’s not enough in this city, or at least it’s not getting the attention it deserves. That could change with Halina, a modern FIlipino restaurant opening up soon at 2493 Hastings. The four friends who started it want to create an elevated dining experience. Yes please! 

Niche beers: While this is over in Burnaby, popular brewery Dageraad is doing an afternoon tasting of rare and niche beers from nearby and around the world this Saturday. Tickets are $70, but the nice thing? No tokens! They also advise arriving early. 

Indian on the upswing: Okay, I get it, my bias is showing — these recommendations often skew towards food and drink. Another bias? I love Indian food. So I’m excited to see Kavita, a new restaurant opening at 250 West 3rd Ave. Even more exciting? The chef, Tushar Tondvalkar, worked at Gaggan, the best restaurant in Asia in 2025. My excitement level is through the roof. For those looking for other new, modern Indian food, you can check out Peya at 2101 E Hastings, and Lila, which opened last year, at 3491 Main St.

— Geoff Sharpe, Lookout managing editor

BROADWAY PLAN

Mount Pleasant tenants fight to keep their homes, but the Broadway Plan beat goes on

On a Monday evening in late spring, 10th Avenue just east of Main Street is quietly buzzing with activity. Everywhere you look, people are walking in ones and twos along the shaded sidewalks, while cyclists and scooter riders zip along the well-used bike route, and crows caw expectantly from the sprawling tree canopy high above.  

When I meet Sara Smith, she’s greeting a crow that’s perched near her side yard. Smith, who works as an education assistant with the Vancouver School Board, has lived in the basement suite of what’s affectionately known as the ‘purple house’ for about a decade. 

It’s one in a row of three detached houses rezoned last night following a public hearing. The rezoning approved a 17-storey rental tower for the site, which includes 138 rental units with 20 per cent of the building’s floor area to be offered at 20 per cent below-market.

The so-called purple house, now painted a drab grey, is a long-standing shared house with eight people living there, Smith said. Madeleine Chaffee is one of six people who live on the main floor of the purple house above Smith.

“This home is not just affordable — it's a sanctuary and a hub of creative and community activity… This is real, functioning housing that supports the city’s social and cultural fabric,” Chaffee, who’s an artist who works from home, wrote in a submission to city council opposing the rezoning. 

“We're a really tight-knit community,” Smith told Vancity Lookout. “We've put so much into this neighbourhood,” and watched it grow and change, becoming more vibrant, but now “we just feel like we're being pushed out,” Smith said.  

It’s nothing out of the ordinary for new developments being brought forward under the Broadway Plan, which allows for buildings up to 18 storeys along that part of 10th Ave. 

In fact, a slightly taller, denser development is being proposed for the four lots on the other side of the purple house. One block east, there are two other similarly-sized rental developments that had their rezonings approved last winter, and one block west there’s a proposal for a 25-storey mixed-use rental building across the street from Kingsgate Mall.   

“I think a lot of what we've learned from the [Broadway Plan so far] is we got a lot more activity and rezoning than perhaps we even anticipated, which is, I think, a good sign,” Josh White, the city’s director of planning, told Vancity Lookout in early June. “There's lots of interest in the plan.” 

Asked why there’s been so much interest, White said he thinks it's a reflection of the underlying demand for housing, particularly rentals, and the attractiveness of the neighbourhoods included in the plan area. 

In the December 2024 update to the plan, which came in response to provincial legislation around transit-oriented development, the city removed all tower limits (in terms of the number of towers per block) in many areas, including on the north side of 10th Ave. from Prince Edward to Carolina St. 

“Our interpretation [was] that within certain proximity to stations, within tier one and tier two, we can't really enforce a tower limitation, and so part of the updates were to align with that legislation there,” White said. 

However, some areas where tower limits were removed, including the 400 and 500 blocks of East 10th, fall outside those tier one and two zones. 

Carrie Dawson worries about the speed of change and reduced affordability in the neighbourhood where she’s lived with her daughter for the past 22 years. Dawson is gardening in the backyard when Smith and I head next door to chat together. 

“I feel like we were part of making the neighbourhood what it is now,” Dawson said. “I’ve always felt very lucky to be here and I don’t want to leave,” Dawson said, saying it’s devastating to potentially have to move.     

Tenants in six out of the nine units are eligible for the extended tenant protections laid out in the Broadway Plan. Those include the right to return to a similar unit in the new building at the tenant’s current rent, and logistical and financial support to find new housing until they can move back. Smith and Dawson are two of those eligible tenants. 

Ahead of the public hearing, Smith and Dawson were clear that they wanted to see the application be denied by city council. But, with it proceeding, they want to get clearer communication about when they would need to move out and certainty that the protections being offered – which are required by the city through Broadway Plan permitting, rather than having the full legal force of the provincial Residential Tenancy Act – will come through and be enforced. 

“Obviously, none of us want to leave this area and uproot our lives. But if that's the case, if we have to do it, then, of course, I want to come back,” Smith said. 

“I would like to [return], depending on what that looks like. Is it just going to be all towers, no trees? Is there still going to be that feel of a community?” Dawson wondered. 

The trees are a very noticeable part of the streetscape here, and were a major cause of concern at Tuesday’s public hearing. The road, sidewalks, and front yards on the block are shaded by 22 mature horse chestnut trees, which stand between 50 and 70 feet tall and are so dense they create an unbroken tunnel of foliage during the spring and summer. Out front of the houses, someone has strapped a large sign to one of them that reads “save me and my fellow trees.” However, the developer’s rezoning application for the site actually recommends that all those street trees be retained (to be confirmed in the next permitting stage), though there is a large maple tree in good condition on the site that is recommended for removal. 

While Smith and Dawson will have the option to return to their home neighbourhood – albeit in different circumstances – other tenants at the site aren’t eligible for the plan’s renter protections. To qualify, a lease needs to have begun more than a year before the rezoning application is submitted. 

Three out of the nine units, or 33 per cent, aren’t eligible for renter protections, according to city documents. The city uses tenancies to measure and assess renter protections, rather than the people who live there. 

That means that, while some units may be eligible, not all the tenants living there are necessarily qualify. For example, for Chaffee and the five others living on the main floor of the purple house, only two of those tenants are on the lease though they all live there full-time. 

Rusaba Alam, one of the tenants in the house next door, presented information at the public hearing — collected from neighbours in all three houses — that seven out of 20 tenants at the site who aren’t eligible under the Broadway Plan’s tenancy protections. Alam is one of those who don’t qualify.

At the public hearing, Hans Fast, representing the developer, Fastmark Acquisitions, said they would consider extending assistance to help relocate tenants who don’t qualify for tenancy protections, in response to requests from Coun. Lucy Maloney and Sean Orr. ABC councillors voted against an amendment from Coun. Orr to have staff work with the applicant on a voluntary basis to extend those protections. 

“I think it’s unacceptable at the policy level for council to expect people to rely on the kindness of individual developers to patch up gaps that it’s the city’s responsibility to remedy,” Alam said following the hearing.

Staff said they will be starting a review of the Broadway Plan’s tenancy protections in early 2026, to be presented to council sometime in late 2026 or early 2027.

Alam, sitting in her front yard with her cat Bug, described the experience of bouncing between rentals. Alam left their previous place when that lease was cut short after about six months due to redevelopment. 

“It was really like a sense of deja vu. It's like, Oh, I feel like I just weathered this,” Alam said about getting the news in May 2024 that their current unit would be redeveloped after moving in in late 2023. 

Alam said they’re concerned that the cycle of displacement without protection will continue. “What are the options for places that I might be able to go? Well, I might be looking at somewhere really similar to this,” that will soon be redeveloped, noting she’s currently paying a below-market rate. 

What it means 

If completed as proposed, the project would add a significant amount of rental housing to the site, replacing nine rental units across three detached houses with 138 rental units. All told, the four rental towers proposed along this two-block stretch of East 10th would amount to 635 rental apartments replacing detached houses. 

From a high-level policy perspective, it’s a culmination of the supply-based solutions being advanced by the civic and provincial governments in an effort to address the housing crisis that has come to dominate the psychic and material conditions of the city. It’s a situation reflected in the common knowledge that Vancouver’s asking rents are the highest in the country, more people are being pushed into homelessness or out of the city, and home ownership has become a distant fantasy for most young people. 

But in the face of this untenable predicament, it’s easy to get lost in abstract numbers and policy and become disconnected from the real people whose lives are being changed. The city’s complex and uncertain protections for renters in these areas are certainly better than nothing, despite concerns with compliance and communication. Likewise for the developer’s comment that they would consider extending renter protections to other tenants. It’s something, but, as a consideration, it’s slippery, non-binding, and voluntary, and may or may not be followed up on or executed on by the developer, particularly without involvement from city staff and outside the scrutiny of a public hearing.

At the end of the day, people are still being displaced from their communities and ways of life. That deserves our collective attention and acknowledgement, and a concerted effort to support each other as our city continues to change.

THE VANCOUVER NUMBER

4%

The year-over-year decline of home prices in Vancouver, according to the latest data from the RPS-Wahi Home Price Index. Condo values are down six per cent across Canada compared to last year. That’s all good news for buyers and less so for sellers. [Urbanized]

THE AGENDA

🅿️ The park board has voted to make the paid parking pilot at Spanish Banks permanent. The price per hour is set to $1.50, and could increase to $2 by 2026. The money will go towards improving park maintenance and keeping the area cleaner. The pilot program generated about $168,000 over 11 months. [CityNews, park board]

🏒 Vancouver’s Professional Women’s Hockey League team continues to expand its roster, signing free agent Hannah Miller who previously played for the Toronto Sceptres. [TSN]

🏘️ Four colourful and well-known heritage homes along the 10th Avenue bike lane in Mount Pleasant are still on the market one month after being listed. But don’t expect them to go cheap – the homes, which received Vancouver’s first-ever heritage home designation, have an asking price of $13.8 million. [CityNews]

😞 The owner of the popular Caribbean food restaurant Calabash Bistro says he is considering moving the restaurant, after years of dealing with street disorder and violence in the Downtown Eastside. [Global]

👮‍♀️ Vancouver experienced the lowest number of violent crimes in the first three months of 2025 compared to any other similar time since 2002, dropping 11.2 per cent to 1,192 incidents. [Castanet]

Outside Vancouver

⛺ Vancouver and Victoria have both dealt with increasing homelessness in recent years. Now, Victoria has unveiled a plan to address street disorder, a symptom of rising homelessness.   The plan makes more than 80 recommendations, including increased police presence downtown, more money for cleaning, support teams, and establishing tiny homes and shelter spaces to help people transition out of homelessness. It’s a long list, and the city acknowledges some of the biggest changes need to come from other levels of government. [Times Colonist]

HOME OF THE WEEK

We’re going south… All the way down to Marpole for this home.

This two-bedroom, two-bathroom corner is, well, lovely. At 871 square feet it’s of decent size, but we’re extremely partial to the beautiful green patio in the back, perfect for hosting friends all summer. Seriously, this is a nice unit!

How much will this place set you back? Honestly, it’s not a bad price…

VANCOUVER ARTS GUIDE

Performance

It’s a great time to be into musicals. Theatre Under the Stars have two shows at the Malkin Bowl this summer — an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Legally Blonde. Shows start on June 27 and continue until Aug. 16. 

It’s Shakespeare, but faster and funnier. Bard on the Beach is showing The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again], a three-person show where they move quickly through all his works. It’s apparently quite funny! From July 1 to Sept. 20 at Douglas Campbell Theatre. 

Art

Chairs! More chairs! The Museum of Vancouver has an exhibit on those things you sit on called Future Makers: Chairs by New Designers. Kwantlen Polytechnic University students have taken a creative approach to the ultimate design object. You can see the exhibit starting on June 20.

The Eastside Arts Festival is back with their Summer Arts Festival from July 18-27. It’s put on by the same group that does the Eastside Arts Crawl, which is one of our favourite festivals of the year. There’s an all-day concert on July 26 at MacLean Park, as well as shows throughout the week. [Stir]

Music

Summer means jazz, and Vancouver has you covered. The Vancouver International Jazz Festival is on from June 20 until July 1, with a ton of different shows all across the city. If you fancy heading across the water, the North Shore has its own set of shows at various venues too. 

Movies

The always wonderful Tony Leung stars in Lust, Caution by famed director Ang Lee. There’s also an Alfred Hitchcock movie, and a series of movies for National Indigenous History Month, all at VIFF this week. 

The Rio has a real jam-packed series of movies this week, including Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, Dogma’s 25th anniversary, and horror Midsommar. 

Ziggy Stardust is back (at least for one night). The Polygon is showing Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars as part of the 50th anniversary of David Bowie’s unforgettable performance. The film starts at 9:15. 

HOUSING

Council defers development fees amid challenging market conditions

What happened: In more news on the housing development front, city council unanimously approved changes to defer the timing of required payments from developers to the city, related to new housing projects. 

Why?: It’s being done in an effort to support development viability, according to the city, given the pressure of rising construction costs, inflation, and high interest rates on the financial feasibility of new housing projects.  

Speaking to residents who are seeing rezoning signs all over the city and asking why this is necessary, Coun. Pete Meiszner commented that under the current market conditions and framework of fees, “many of these projects may not move forward and that housing may not actually get built any time in the near future.”

• While responding to market forces is clearly the short term reasoning for the changes, it’s also intended to be part of a long term shift by the city to create more certainty around development charges.  

“Our hope with this program is that it could be a transition to a permanent state,” Josh White, the city’s head planner, told councillors in answer to a question about when these changes might be rolled back. “I don’t view things like deferrals as being a temporary measure to pull back… I think it is in line with best practice,” to take payment later in the development process, White explained.  

The details: The changes include deferring the bulk of development cost levies and community amenity contributions (CACs) – two major fees that developers pay the city early in the permitting process – until later stages of development. 

• The council also allowed developers to expand their use of surety bonds, and cancelled inflation increases of nearly 9% to some development fees that were planned for in 2024 and 2025.  

The deferrals are primarily targeted toward larger developments, rather than smaller ones, because they trigger more city fees and take longer to bring to market, staff told councillors. 

Political context: In May, Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said the province is having active conversations about delaying development cost payments until later in the process, noting that the federal government has committed to reducing those charges by 50 per cent, according to BIV. 

• The federal government clashed with Metro Vancouver in 2023 after the regional government significantly increased its development fees in an effort to fund new sewage and water infrastructure, according to Urbanized. The province has agreed to help shield new housing projects that are subject to those fees. 

The impact: The deferrals could reduce the city’s next budget (2027-2030) by approximately $245 million available for “growth-supporting infrastructure and amenities,” like sewers and road works. 

• It could also delay as much as $270 million in CAC payments to the city by up to two years, while not proceeding with inflation adjustments would reduce development contributions by about $6 million next year. 

“These are the tough times we find ourselves in,” Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung, who spoke in favour of the changes, said, pointing to the need to help housing developments to move forward while balancing the further strain these cuts could put on the city’s next capital plan.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A look at the park board’s recently completed project to daylight part of Canyon Creek out at the west end of Spanish Banks. It’s also a lovely new spot to sit and take in the views!

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• If you’re looking for a new restaurant that focuses exclusively (and we mean exclusively) on local BC food and drinks, then you need to check this place out. 

• The new Olympic Village Elementary School is getting a rooftop play area. Honestly, why don’t more places have this? [Urbanized]

• Google Maps changed Cambie Street to Cambie Road. But no one knows why… [Straight]

• Vancouver to Rome for around $400? You’ll have to act fast to snatch up these flights. [Vancouver is Awesome]

• This local Vancouver agency is responsible for helping such stars at Ryan Reynolds get their start in show business. [Vancouver Sun]